Warehouse fire kills 15,000 ducks

Wednesday

Oct 31, 2007 at 1:50 PM

Bethel - Some 15,000 breeding ducks were incinerated in a fire just last night near Swan Lake.

Towering flames that could be seen half way across the county ripped through a warehouse rented by the Hudson Valley Foie Gras, destroying the 30-by-450 foot warehouse, a garage containing equipment, and a car.

Victor Whitman

Bethel - Some 15,000 breeding ducks were incinerated in a fire just last night near Swan Lake.

Towering flames that could be seen half way across the county ripped through a warehouse rented by the Hudson Valley Foie Gras, destroying the 30-by-450 foot warehouse, a garage containing equipment, and a car.

The fire also damaged two mobile homes, where workers were staying at the plant on Fittkau Road. Nobody was injured.

"It was very intense for quite some time," said Mark Pennell, chief of the Kauneonga Lake fire department, standing near the charred wood beams and twisted tin panelling that was still smoking this morning.

"You could see the glow. It was like sunrise."

Several volunteer fire companies arrived shortly after the fire erupted at midnight, but were helpless to stop the flames. No water was available on site.

Hoses had to be run for a mile to Airport Road. Tanker trucks shuttled back and forth from a pond at the fire training center three miles away.

At the height of the fire, a tremendous amount of duck feces oozed out of one side of the building.

Investigators believe the fire started in the garage, where the machinery and the heating system for the plant was located. The fire then jumped to the main building.

Exhaust fans used to cool the building sucked the flames through the three stories. The building and garage burned to the foundation.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Pennell said.

The lost ducks were specially selected from France and used exclusively for breeding, Hudson Valley owner Izzy Yanay said.

Yanay could not place a value on the loss, but that it was considerable and could not have come at a worse time. The specialty duck livers produced by the company are most in demand around the holidays.

Foie Gras production is controversial. Hudson Valley Foie Gras, the nation's largest producer, has come under attack by animal rights groups.